The Past Lost So That the Future May be Found

Arai Yasunori (Resak)

Description:

Player: Eric
Seeming: Darkling
Kith: Antiquarian
Court: Winter Court

Bio:

Before: Yasunori grew up on the northern shore of hokkaido in a small fishing village. A studious child, his parents had high hopes for him and his siblings. His mother was a member of the Ainu ethnic minority, although she always warned Yasunori to hide his heritage, lest he be teased by his classmates. He was accepted to a prestigious university in Tokyo and attended for a single day before he was snatched.

Durance: Yasunori saw his keeper three times. The first was the day he was taken, swept up in a sack of rotting fish and carried off in great leaps and bounds through the hedge. “The Fisher” had teeth like daggers and tiny, jet black orbs for eyes. It emptied the sack, Yasunori and all into “The Reliquary”, a sprawling cavern with illuminated islands separated by inky water. While Yasunori watched in rapt fascination, The Fisher gutted the fish, one by one. Some had pearls in their bellies, some had nothing, and some had impossible marvels, like a grand piano or an mint condition copy of an ancient tome. It set these out on the islands according to a logic only it understood, then it left, placing a boulder to block the entrance.

For an age Yasunori dwelt in darkness, eeking out a life and studying the Fisher’s many wonders. Twice the Fisher returned, and both times Yasunori hid, although he could feel that the Fisher was still somehow aware of his presence. Then one day Yasunori noticed the boulder was ajar a tiny crack, and after hours of desperate squeezing, he escaped.

After: Now Yasunori has returned to Tokyo, a city he had barely known before being kidnapped, and which now seems stranger still. A life in the world of academia, his goal for years, now seems impossible. Instead, he makes ends meet by working as a detective. He explains the work thusly: “People bring me their worst fears, and then I confirm them for them.” This is often followed by a belly laugh, although his eyes seem sad even when he’s smiling.

By day he reads at least one newspaper, sometimes several, while he waits for clients to walk through his door. By night he visits karaoke bars, always singing laments about lost love or regret. If he gets thrown out he goes down by the airport to throw rocks and watch the planes land, or visits net cafes to make awkward conversation with people who would rather be left alone.

Appearance Yasunori is tall and well built, although he wears such a sadness about him that no one would ever describe him as intimidating. He wears a secondhand fedora and trenchcoat, and his face is flanked by large bushy mutton chops. Those who can see past the mask to his mien see him largely the same, save for the steady falling of dust from his facial hair, like snow. He has a tendency to be very still when reading or listening, which makes his sudden movements startling, as if a painting came to life. Among other changelings he prefers to go by Resak, an Ainu name. He laments that his fetch has more right to the name “Arai Yasunori” than he does anymore.